Many Xbox owners have already started saving their money for the Xbox 360, but thanks to Tecmo and Team Ninja, we recommend you save your money for new Xbox controllers instead. Ninja Gaiden: Black is on the way, and it's everything the original offered, plus quite a bit more, at nearly half the price. It's been a few months since we last sat down with Ryu Hayabusa, but we've been playing Ninja Gaiden: Black all weekend, and we can't put it down.

If you think NG: Black is nothing more than the original with the Hurricane Packs, think again. The Normal difficulty setting is the original game, with an adjusted camera angle and a few new item placements. Bump it up to the "Hard" setting and you'll enter the first Hurricane Pack. There's also a "Very Hard" mode, which can be unlocked once completing "Hard" mode, and if you can get through that, we'll give you a ninja cookie.

Luckily, Ninja Gaiden: Black is not all about the difficulty. Humor plays a major role in Team Ninja's new baby. If you happen to die three times in one level, you'll be asked if you wish to give up the way of the ninja. If you select yes, you'll then be asked if you're sure you want to give up. Select yes once again and you'll be asked one last time if you're truly sure you wish to give up the way of the ninja. Upon selecting yes for a third time, you'll be "treated" to a cut-scene of a near dead Hayabusa, and a slightly irate Ayane.

From here you'll be stripped of your master status, and the game will become moderately easier. Ayane will give you more tips as you progress through the game, enemies will do less damage to Ryu, and he'll dish out more damage with each attack. In addition, the former master ninja gets to sport a San Francisco-style pink armband. Don't fret, you won't have to wear the pink armband the entire game, you'll be able to upgrade to other armbands the further you get into the game.

So what is there besides the standard game? The real juice of Ninja Gaiden: Black comes in the new Mission mode. Fifty missions of varying difficulty (but all pretty hard) will have you begging for mercy. You'll start off with ten missions available to you, then from there you'll receive the missions in sets of five. After you've completed five missions (in any order), you'll open up the next set of five.

Six of these missions will have you facing off against yourself in one-on-one combat. Each time you face yourself you'll be using a different weapon. Your clone, so to speak, will have all of the moves you've got. You'll have to put that human mind of yours to work if you want to defeat the AI-controlled Hayabusa.

While the Mission mode offers a ton a fun, and is arguably the best part of NG: Black, it's not 100% new material. Once you've unlocked the first 45 missions, the remaining five are comprised of the second Hurricane Pack. Just like in the original, your score will be tallied so you can brag to your gaming buds that you're a better ninja than they are.

If all of this weren't enough to make you plunk down an easy $30 for Black, you'll get the original Ninja Gaiden arcade game included in the package. While we have fond memories of the arcade game, even more so than the old school Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles side-scrolling arcade games, it takes a little bit of time to get used to the controls. Movement works just fine, but it took some adjusting to time our attacks properly. At least Ninja Dog mode wasn't unlocked when we died three times on the first level. After we became a bit more agile with the Xbox controls, the game felt just like it did in arcades so many years ago.

We will be back with more on Ninja Gaiden: Black as we can't seem to put down our Xbox pads (although we can throw them pretty far). In the coming weeks, you can expect a plethora of screens and videos, as well as additional hands-on reports of the game. But the bottom line is simple: Ninja Gaiden: Black is the best action title on the Xbox or any other console. If you already own Ninja Gaiden, trade it in for credit and pick up Black when it hits in September. If you were living under a rock and never got around to picking up the original, Tecmo has blessed you with a lower priced, superior version. We'd actually recommend picking up both so you can have all three NES versions of the game, plus the arcade version and the spiffy Xbox versions.